Nightmare In Burgess
by RoseWillow13
Summary: In the otherwise peaceful town of Burgess, Pennsylvania, a psychotic serial killer terrorizes children and parents alike. Rated M for blood, gore, and psychological and physical torture. Credit to kerutheblue on Tumblr for writing Jamie's part of the story, and thedarklingprincess on Tumblr for the story's icon.
1. Chapter 1

**/AN: This story is based off an rp on tumblr between me and the lovely _guardian-of-the-written-word_. ****She gave me permission to rewrite it in my own words./ **

He paused outside his bedroom, his hand stopping halfway as he reached for his doorknob. There was an odd scent in the air, metallic and almost sickening...but he couldn't quite place it right away. He blinked and furrowed his brow, then brought his hand up to his nose to double-check for a nosebleed.  
No, no...his hand came back dry. Maybe he had one coming on? But it wasn't that time of year...and that was definitely blood he smelled in the air.  
No...no, it couldn't have been...that was silly. He couldn't see any blood anywhere, and it would have to be a lot for it to be this strong from such a distance.  
Jamie shook his head. Maybe he was just imagining things. Or maybe he was getting sick and his senses were going haywire. Whatever.

But when he opened his bedroom door, his eyes went wide. His whole body went stiff when the scent of blood, stronger now, hit him like a wave and he beheld the sight of his best friend, Jack, sitting on his bedroom floor.

Jack was hugging his knees to his chest, and appeared to be sitting on a towel - that threw Jamie off a little bit, the towel did, because how would Jack have enough presence of mind to pull this morning's towel out of his hamper and sit down on it? But the question was discarded from his mind when he fully focused on Jack's shivering frame.  
The white-haired teen was covered from head to toe in blood. His pants and shirt were clinging to him, stuck to his skin. Even his hair was weighed down, plastered flat against his head instead of sticking up like it usually did - there was so much, it almost looked dyed red. And it was all still wet, dripping down his face and neck, and pooling on the towel Jack was sitting on.

A quick look around his room once he managed to tear his eyes away from the terrifying sight confirmed that Jack, for whatever reason, had climbed in through his bedroom window. There was a large smearing of blood on the windowsill and the glass, and bloody footprints on the wood lead to where he was sitting now, right next to his laundry hamper.

"J-Jack... Wh-... What happened..." he whispered.  
His stomach was twisting and churning at the sight, so his voice came out hoarse and weak, and the twitching inside only got worse when Jack didn't respond to his question at all. Whatever sense or grasp he'd had on his mind that caused him to put a towel down before curling up in the middle of his bedroom floor appeared to have abandoned him, since Jack was just staring blankly ahead of him as far as Jamie could tell through the blood smeared on his best friend's glasses. He didn't even move his head, or show any signs of having noticed Jamie was in the room at all.

Jamie found himself peeking over his shoulder, making sure his mother wouldn't come in and disturb them before he stepped inside and pushed the door shut. Jack was his best friend and Jamie loved him, and he knew he would protect Jack with his life...even if the older teen had done something awful that caused him to show up like this.

Jamie felt sick when he realized he _hoped_ that was the case, because the alternative meant...

He inched forward slowly, trying to avoid startling Jack, trying to ignore how his stomach twitched, wanting to clear itself at the sight and heavy metallic smell of all that blood. "Jack...? T-talk to me...please..." he whispered, pausing again once he got close to where he sat. But Jack's trembling had gotten worse the closer he got, and it made Jamie's heart clench. Was Jack afraid of him? He should know he would never hurt him...  
Slowly, he crouched down next to him, tilting his head slightly to catch his gaze.

As soon as Jamie crouched, Jack responded. His previous blank expression quickly morphed to one of wide-eyed panic, and he scooted back the few feet from his current spot right into the wall, wincing when his back made contact. The towel didn't seem to do any good at that point, having been abandoned when Jack frantically kicked his feet to propel himself back, causing a trail of blood to follow Jack all the way to the wall. He straightened, pressing back into it now, almost like he wanted to fuse with the paint. The sudden change in position caused his glasses to slip down his nose and onto his lap, revealing Jack's eyes properly. They darted about, pupils dilated with fear and disorientation - like he didn't know where he was.

Up close, Jamie could make out a few more details that he'd missed upon his initial inspection - the streakiness on his cheeks indicated Jack had been crying, which only confirmed that whatever had happened, Jack was either traumatized by or remorseful about it and it chilled Jamie to the core.  
When Jack's gaze ghosted over him, blue eyes seeming to stare through him instead of at him as they passed, Jamie winced and looked over Jack again.  
Jack was in his pajamas. One of his shirt sleeves was torn clean off at the elbow, the other pushed up haphazardly. Through the partially dried blood caked over him, Jamie could make out raw, angry red marks circling his wrists. The only other wounds on him as far as Jamie could see were some scrapes through the tears in his pants and small cuts spattered around his ankles, and a series of gashes on his arm that Jamie couldn't get a good look at because of Jack's fidgeting. "Jack... Look at me, please... T-talk to me..."

When Jack's eyes finally settled on his own, Jamie's breath hitched. He looked so...broken. So much so that for a brief moment, Jamie wondered if Jack had done this to himself...but no...there was too much blood, far too much damage that demanded a second party at the very least.  
It took all of his self control to keep calm for Jack at this point.  
"I...g-god... Jack... Jack, are you...are you alright?"

Jack shook his head frantically, squeezing his eyes shut. His breathing was rapid, and his whole body was trembling violently even though he was starting to register that he was with Jamie, in his room.  
That didn't mean anything. It couldn't ease his mind or make him feel safe... After all, Jack had been in his own bedroom when...no. No. It was too horrible.

One hand gripped at the bared and wounded arm, pressing over the cuts there. He grimaced, almost hissing in pain, but otherwise didn't seem to notice what he was doing. Instead, his other hand fisted into his own hair and he tugged at it roughly, tears starting to fall down his cheeks again.

Up until this point, Jack hadn't made a sound. His breaths and gasps had come out silent, and even during his venture in through the window Jack had been quiet as a ghost. But now...now he just couldn't hold it in. He whimpered and gasped as quiet, choked little cries slipped past his lips. He struggled to breathe, his sobs closing his airway and wracking his body. Jack gripped his hair tighter in a vain attempt to ground himself.

He didn't see Jamie reach over to his bed for a blanket. He didn't sense Jamie approaching him. But he did hear, even if only barely, Jamie's gentle coos. "Jack... Jack, breathe. Breathe with me. I'm right here... I'm here for you."  
When he felt the blanket being gently wrapped over his shoulders, he released his hair and pulled his injured arm to his chest, grabbing the blanket with his other hand. Most of it had begun to soak in blood the moment it was laid over him, but Jack found an unsoiled corner and shoved it against his nose, trying to overpower the smell of the blood with Jamie's scent instead, though it did very little to calm him down after what had happened.

Jamie's eyes widened at his reaction, and he frowned in concern. Every part of him wanted to panic - seeing Jack, normally so cool and collected, breaking down - but he had to be the strong one here. So he reached forward, gently placing a hand on Jack's back, forcing down a grimace and a gag when he felt the blood staining his hand.  
He glanced down at where his arm was tucked against his chest. Jack was being very protective of that injured arm... "Jack... Can I see?"  
When Jack just whimpered and shook his head almost violently, making Jamie worry he was going to break his own neck with the force of it, Jamie had no choice. Jack wasn't going to listen. He wasn't going to respond, and he had to do _something_, so without thinking, he reached forward and grabbed the hand tucked into his friend's chest.

He pulled it out, turning it over, and inspected the wounds there. And what he saw made his blood run cold.

He'd heard the rumors. He'd read the articles, watched the news stories...but seeing what had been etched into Jack's arm, blood oozing from the cuts, was a whole new level of terrifying for Jamie.

Because what had been carved into Jack's arm was a name. The name given to the most notorious, terrifying serial killer in all of Burgess.

'_The Nightmare King_'.


	2. Chapter 2

Jamie wanted to hurl.

"Oh, J-Jack..." he breathed, unable to move, even as Jack yanked his arm back to him with a small cry of distress.

The white-haired teen just kept shaking his head, whimpering. "No...no no...no no no no no...no..." It was like he was trying to urge reality away, to force it to change in his mind, and Jamie could understand why.

Not a whole lot was released in the media about the Nightmare King. The most anyone knew was that he killed kids who were about his and Jack's ages, but not much else. The Burgess Police Department was very careful to keep news of the killer under wraps.  
This alone worried the public especially - it was a well known fact that the media would often bribe officers working the big cases for more information. The fact that the Nightmare King case was kept so secret meant that whatever was happening was far too dangerous, far too horrific for anyone in the police department to be swayed enough to spill.

As Jack continued to whimper "no" over and over, curling in on himself so far that his forehead touched the floor -_he couldn't breathe and his ears were ringing and oh god it sounded like their screams-_, Jamie frowned deeply. Whatever the Nightmare King did to his victims before he killed them was apparently what happened to Jack.  
This couldn't be happening, he thought. It just couldn't! Not to Jack...not _his_ Jack! This was too much! Jack was so good and kind, it wasn't fair! It just couldn't be real.  
But one look at Jack made him wilt. He took in a shaky breath. No...unfortunately, this was reality.  
"J-Jack... Jack, c-c'mon..." he whispered, his voice trembling slightly. He took Jack's upper arms gently, minding the wounds near his wrist, trying to lift the tiny male into his own.

Jack, after going through what he'd gone through, tried to yank away by reflex, but could only squirm weakly as Jamie picked him up. Without a lot of resistance, it was easy for Jamie to pull Jack's small frame into his lap.  
Not caring anymore if the blood got onto him or anything else, he kept Jack in his arms, close and tight, rocking him gently. He needed to hold him right now, to calm him down.

Even in Jamie's arms, in the comfort they were trying to provide him, Jack squirmed weakly. His breathing picked up for a moment; he was close to hyperventilating. "Don't...don't...don't...no no no...no..." he whispered.  
Despite Jamie's coos of "Oh, Jack... Shh, just breathe. Breathe with me, in and out. In and out, you're going to be okay...", Jack just kept shaking his head. But his sobs did die down, at least, to quiet whimpers and tiny hiccups.  
But how could he breathe? Jamie wanted him to _breathe_ after he'd seen them slaughtered, saw their faces and smelled their blood and watched them die? How could he breathe knowing he was covered in their blood now? Oh, the smell...the smell was getting to him and he fought back the wave of nausea that hit him.

But Jamie kept on, rocking him and stroking his back and cooing soft, gentle words to try to get him to calm down, and it seemed to be working. Jack found his hiccups easing further, and his chest unwound a bit, much to his relief. He could breathe...he could breathe...  
Jack repeated that over and over in his mind. He could breathe. He could breathe. He didn't dare tell himself that he was safe, because he knew he wasn't, but he could breathe. He could breathe. Breathe. Breathe.

Jamie couldn't do anything, he couldn't even begin to think of doing anything, until Jack's breathing was finally slowing down again. So all he could do was continue to rock him until the older teen stopped forcing his breaths and could breathe deeply without over-thinking it.

"I... I-I'm gonna call the cops," he whispered, a small tremble running through his frame. Saying it out loud made it more real, somehow, and more than anything he wished he could make this go away. "Th-they'll know what to do, right? Th-they can help..."

At first, Jack just whimpered miserably and nodded. He needed to tell the police where the...where the warehouse was...oh god the bodies...  
"I-I n-need a sh-shower..." he finally managed to say. "P-please..."

Jamie was eager to please, really - he wanted nothing more than to make Jack comfortable right now. He wanted so badly to say yes, but...  
He probably shouldn't be following shows like CSI by the script, but he still figured that at least cleaning Jack up would be considered tampering with evidence. He sighed heavily.  
"I... I'm sorry, Jack," he whispered, shaking his head. "They...they'll need to..." He took a deep breath. "They need to see _this_." Jamie gestured to Jack's form.  
To Jamie's horror, his words made Jack burst into another fit of tears and curl up tighter. But all Jamie could do was hold him close with one arm, and he fished out his phone with the other, clumsily calling the police.

"_911, what's your emergency?_"

"M-my friend, I think he... I think he was attacked by the Nightmare King... He's at my house right now, and I..."

"_The Nightmare King is at your house?_"

"N-no...my friend, the one he attacked!"

"_Sir, are you certain it was the Nightmare King?_"

It sounded like they didn't believe him. Then again, who would? What he was saying surely sounded crazy and a little paranoid.

"M-my friend, he... H-he showed up at my house covered in blood, a-and 'The Nightmare King' is..." His voice dropped to a whisper, as though he could protect Jack from hearing the explanation. "...Cut into his arm. Please, please, help..."

Jack let out another quiet whimper as Jamie explained, and the sound combined with his detailed claim seemed to confirm it for the operator.

"_...Okay, sir. I need your location. We'll have the police at your house in a few minutes._"

The fact that she believed him only after hearing _that _disturbed him. So this was a normal thing for his victims?

Once he'd given her his address, he was asked to stay on the line, just in case. He didn't hang up, but he did put the phone down so he could hold Jack close again, rubbing gentle circles into his back. "They're coming, Jack. It's okay, you'll be okay...they're coming. The police are on their way."


	3. Chapter 3

It only took a few minutes for the police to get to the Bennett household, but to Jack, who just wanted this to be erased, and Jamie, who was still trying to hold and comfort Jack, it felt like an eternity.

When the police finally arrived, the boys heard Mrs. Bennett answer the door. And it didn't sound like she was going to let them in - she kept on saying they must have had the wrong house, her tone confused and a little worried. Of course she would be...she didn't know Jack was here or what had happened to him.  
"Mom!" Jamie called in a rather broken sounding voice, rubbing Jack's back as he felt the white haired boy's heart begin to speed up again. He murmured a quiet apology for yelling in his ear before speaking up again. "I-it's alright! S-send them up here!"

Silence followed, which lasted only a very short moment before footsteps of several people could be heard coming up the stairs. The bedroom door swung open and there stood Mrs. Bennett, eyes gone wide, gasping in horror. "O-oh my-...!" she began, before keeling over in a faint.  
One officer took care of her, helping her to settle in the hallway and attempting to wake her up gently, while the other officers came in to start questioning the two boys. At first they asked Jamie, who seemed much more coherent and capable of answering, what happened.

"I..."  
Jamie bit his lip, looking up at the officers and then down at Jack, who was shrinking back into him due to the crowd in Jamie's little bedroom. Poor Jack had never been good in crowds, and in this state...  
"I don't know...it's..." He looked back up again, obviously confused and scared over this whole thing. "I just found him this way..." he whispered.

Realizing they weren't going to get any answers right away, a CSI got to work taking pictures of the two boys. A paramedic grabbed Jack's arm, pulling it out so the CSI could take some quick pictures of the carving there. Jack let out a little cry of distress, which only caused Jamie to hold him more securely.  
Once the CSI was satisfied and was taking rushed but careful pictures of both boys' bodies, the paramedic got to work cleaning the wound to prevent any more cross blood contamination.  
A wave from the CSI with the camera, and the paramedics pulled Jack from Jamie's arms, one frantically working on field-wrapping his cuts while another took pictures of him, full body. Jack had already started crying again the moment he was ripped from Jamie's safe embrace, but he managed to hold still enough (if you didn't count the shaking from sobbing, of course), understanding on some level how important these pictures were.  
Finally, once the investigator with the camera moved on to take pictures of the window and floor where Jack had come in and trekked across, an officer approached the small shaking teen. He waved the other officers back a few steps and crouched in front of where the white haired boy was sitting. "It's okay, son. You're safe now, okay? I'm Police Chief Pitchiner... Can you tell me your name?"

Jack shuddered and whimpered a little. For some reason, despite his calm tone and soothing words, Chief Pitchiner's voice filled him with anxiety and dread. "J-J-Jackson O-Overland..." he mumbled quietly, his gaze never lifting from the floor.

"Alright, Jackson. Please try to calm down a little. We won't let anything else happen to you, okay? You're safe now." Pitchiner offered a small smile to Jack, who still wasn't looking up. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"Can we clean him up first?" Jamie suddenly asked. His voice was shaky, and he was honestly a bit surprised by it. "D-don't you think he's been covered in...in this stuff long enough?"  
He hated seeing Jack so upset. All he wanted was to grab the older boy and hold him close - to make everything go away, make him happy again...but with the police and paramedics swarming around them, it wasn't possible.  
Jack had been dragged from his arms, taken pictures of while _crying his goddamn eyes out_, and while Jamie understood that they needed to process this for their records, for evidence, he couldn't help but be angry that they weren't helping Jack, weren't holding him, comforting him. He needed help.

Pitchiner looked at Jamie, startled, then at Jack with what looked like concern. "Ah, yes, of course, my apologies...but please, Jackson, can you at least tell us where you were taken?" Now Pitchiner sounded rather rushed. "Maybe if we get there in time, we can save-"

"Th-they didn't..." Jack cut Pitchiner off with a hoarse whisper and a shake of his head. "They didn't...they're all...I-I was the only..." he trailed off with another cry, wrapping his arms around himself and starting to sob again.

"A-ah!" Pitchiner held out his hands (though he didn't touch Jack), hoping to shush the boy. "Jackson, Jackson, shh... I'm sorry...but we still need to process the crime scene, and hopefully catch this man... He could still be in the area."

Jack, after a long moment, swallowed and nodded.  
He remembered being taken out of his home and shoved into a van with a bunch of other kids by the masked man... He'd allowed them all to see where they were being taken, too. Probably...god, probably just so he would tell the police where to go to find the bodies.  
Shakily, he told the police what building he remembered - it was a warehouse by the river, secluded in the trees, and they'd all been taken inside...strung together by the wrists with rope like prisoners.

By the time he was finished describing the building (he had to keep pausing as sobs rose in his throat), Mrs. Bennett was finally coming to, and Jamie was just sitting there, trying to absorb this all. It was real... This was all real... Jamie couldn't fathom why this had to happen...to Jack, of all people!  
Immediately, Pitchiner started sending orders through his walkie to secure the area and start a search. As he did so, Jamie faintly heard his mother asking what she should do, what was going on, if the two of them would be alright. She was quickly calmed down, and Pitchiner answered the questions for all three of them. "We'll need to take you both to the hospital - you're covered in evidence, I'm afraid, and we'll need to process your clothing and clean you both off in a sterile environment."

The paramedics began urging Jack and Jamie to the bedroom door, and then down the stairs. Jamie, feeling rather numb about the whole thing by this point, heard one of them tell his mother to meet them at the hospital, and that was that. They were pushed into the ambulance, Jack clinging to Jamie up right up until he was laid back in a gurney. Even then, he held Jamie's hand tightly. Jamie easily obliged him, holding his hand in both of his as he was sat down nearby, and they made their way to the hospital.


	4. Chapter 4

The whole ride to the hospital, Jack was trying to think of anything but what had happened to him.  
He was relieved that Chief Pitchiner hadn't pushed past the building back at the house, but he knew it wouldn't last. He figured they'd have to ask him what happened eventually for their report.  
But... Jack didn't think he could handle describing what he'd been forced to see or endure. He didn't want to relive watching the others die. He didn't want to remember how it felt being tied up at the wrists, gagged, blindfolded, and dumped out in the woods to hold his own in his vulnerable state.

He wanted to forget any of this ever happened.

Jamie's hands tightly around his the entire ride to the hospital kept him calm enough, but once they reached the hospital and the boys were separated - Jack taken in by the gurney and Jamie forced in the mandatory wheelchair - Jack had to be sedated because he was nearly in hysterics.  
And after the hospital staff got Jack and Jamie all cleaned up and put them in hospital gowns and clean underwear, Jack was taken into a room while his arm was more properly treated and Jamie was allowed to sit in (if only because Jack was still crying and moving about even through the sedative in his system, and Jamie being nearby seemed to be the only way to get him to hold still).

When Jack was coherent again two hours later, it was nearly five in the morning and the police had come back to finish questioning. The first thing they asked for was his address. When Jack asked why, they told him it would have to be processed as a crime scene like Jamie's was. He gave it to them, and a few officers were called to go to the house. Between being sleepy and slightly drugged and being questioned, Jack's hazy mind didn't have a lot of presence to question anything anymore.

That didn't mean he didn't have enough presence of mind to nearly start crying again when he was asked to go into detail about what happened after he and the others were taken to the warehouse.

A moment passed as Jack forced himself to keep coherent, and finally he looked down at his bandaged arm with a frown.  
"Jamie," he whimpered. He didn't want the younger boy to have to hear this...he'd gone through enough horror just handling Jack in the aftermath. "Leave."

Jamie, who had stuck diligently to Jack's side the entire time he was allowed, blinked at him. Throughout the whirlwind of events happening, he'd felt really...numb. It was all so surreal, and he expected any moment to be woken up and find himself in his bedroom, in his bed. On some level, though, he_ knew_ it was real, and he knew he had to insist on staying by Jack's side.  
Even his mother was only allowed a brief hello before she was sent off again to sit and wait - Jamie being the only exception to the hospital's "no non-family visitors" rule for obvious reasons. Until Jack was coherent enough to give his consent, Mrs. Bennett would have to sit outside and wait.  
It had been a long night, and now the police were back and Jack was kicking him out.

But he knew he needed to stay near Jack, for his best friend's sake.

"N-no, Jack... I want to be here for you! Let me do that, at least. Please, s-since..." Jamie trailed off for just a moment. "Since there's nothing else I can do for you."

Jack stared at Jamie for another long moment, his lower lip trembling before he pursed them and looked down at his lap, body starting to tremble.  
A nurse was fixing to sedate him yet again, but he looked up at her and quickly shook his head. The cop held up his hand as well - Jack couldn't give him the report if he was more drugged than he already was.  
Jack attempted weakly to shove at Jamie to get him out of the room, but the brunet didn't budge, and finally Jack just turned to face the officer again.

"He... He w-w-was wearing a m-mask...I-I couldn't s-see his face. B-but he... He..." Jack whimpered and used the arm not hooked up to an IV to cling to Jamie for support. "He had us...tied...and...and... He...he gr-grabbed m-me...m-my h-hair...a-and...and..."

When Jack trailed off and shook his head, choking back a sob, the officer reached a reassuring hand over, putting it on Jack's. "If it's too hard for you right now, Jackson-"

But Jack shook his head again. "I-I..."  
No matter how long he waited, he would never really get over the horrors. He already knew that. It would only get worse if he held it in and refused to let anyone help him, so he may as well tell the story now instead of having to re-live it all later.  
So Jack took a deep breath and tried to put on a brave face, telling them how the Nightmare King had dragged him to each other bound teen by the hair and killed them all one by one...mercilessly. brutally. And while Jack did try to skim over it at first, the cop urged him to go into detail, hoping to compare his story to the evidence in the warehouse to make sense of the attack. The description certainly explained why Jack was so soaked in blood that it hadn't even dried nearly halfway by the time he'd reached Jamie's house, even after about two hours of stumbling around in the woods.  
He told them about that, too. After the slaughter, Jack's sleeve had been ripped off at the elbow and his wrists untied for only a minute so the killer could cut his name into Jack's arm, starting at the wrist.  
One look at the nurse's face told them it was a miracle that Jack hadn't ended up with a horrible infection caused by cross-blood-contamination.  
Once Jack was marked, the Nightmare King bound his wrists once again tightly with rope behind his back. His glasses were removed and a blindfold was tied tightly around his head. Then he was gagged, a cloth stuffed into his mouth, making him retch, before a separate cloth was wedged between his teeth and tied around behind his head as well.  
Everything had gone by quickly after that for Jack. He was dragged along by the uninjured arm from the building and into the forest, the rough ground scraping at the bottom of his bare feet, before he was thrown rather harshly into a tree. He told them of how he lay there, sobbing, for a long time before he finally pulled himself up and started stumbling through the forest, hoping to God that he would be seen and helped.  
Instead, he'd tripped over a barbed wire fence. Luckily for Jack, the collision had only caused a few minor cuts on his legs and feet, and he'd just bruised his head a bit when he hit the ground as opposed to knocking himself out completely. In a moment of collected clarity, one of the few he had during this whole ordeal, he'd managed to shuffle back until his wrists had meet the barbs and he'd sawed the ropes off of his arms. When he'd gotten rid of his blindfold and gag, he found his glasses strewn on the ground before him and no one in sight.  
From there, he'd stumbled around - judging by the vague time frames Jack had been able to give, it was another hour - and everything was kind of a blur.

"Th-the next th-th-thing I-I knew, I-I w-w-was i-in J-J-Jamie's r-r-room..." he finished off, and when he started sobbing again, the nurse sent the cop a questioning glance, tears in her own eyes after having heard Jack's story.  
Receiving a nod from the officer, who was also looking rather sick, she quickly hooked Jack up to another dose of the sedative.

Jack was grateful to have the medication surging through him. His body went numb and limp under it's influence, his mind slowed, and his anxiety dropped. Still, though, he sniffled miserably, settling back into the hospital bed and closing his eyes and letting himself be pulled under by the drugs.

Jamie felt sick by the time Jack had passed out, though he still made a point to run his fingers through his best friend's hair and wipe away the tears that fell as he slept - he figured Jack was having nightmares, but he would at least get some rest thanks to the sedative.  
He was glad for that...it wouldn't do to have Jack see him now - he was nearly as pale as Jack himself, he was sure. The story Jack told...it was disgusting! Who would do that to someone? Who would do that to his Jack?

The officers questioned Jamie to make sure he had an alibi, thanked him for not cleaning him up and destroying the evidence they needed...and finally left the two boys alone.  
When everyone was gone, Jamie was left curled up in the chair next to Jack's bed, staring forward into space.


	5. Chapter 5

**/WOO! Sorry it took so long...I got extremely distracted on Tumblr. Heh.**

**So I got a question about how old Jack and Jamie are in this fic. Right now it's summer. Jamie just turned 17 maybe a month ago and is going into his senior year of high school in the fall. Jack is 18, will be turning 19 in the winter, and has already been out of high school for a year, having graduated at 17. Their mothers are (were) friends which is why they've been friends so long despite the age gap. I hope this clears things up a little bit!/ **

Jamie didn't sleep. He couldn't. He hadn't been there, no...he hadn't experienced the horrors that Jack had, but even just hearing it described haunted him. Instead, he stayed up, holding Jack's hand for the next few hours while he slept and squeezing it gently whenever his friend would whimper.

Jack had only just begun to stir when Jamie's mother came in, followed by a police officer who looked rather stricken. A moment later, when Jack was awake enough to realize there were people in his room, he turned his head and opened his eyes to look at the man.

"Mr. Overland," the officer started, a sympathetic look in his eyes that made Jack feel rather uncomfortable. "My name is Aster... Chief Pitchiner gave me a call and told me to...come in and talk to you."

Jack sniffed, wiping his eyes. He didn't move from where he was, curled up in a ball on his bed and clinging to Jamie's hand pathetically. Jamie easily let him, leaning into him slightly and squeezing his hand in comfort. "I-I already told you everything..." Jack whimpered.

Aster folded his arms uncomfortably. This never got any easier, no matter how many times he had to do it... It was hard enough breaking the news to a parent or sister...but children? Barely 18 years old and scared, not quite ready to grow up yet... He hated that he was the one most suited for this job. "I'm afraid...your family... They were... Killed. Several hours ago, we think...just before the others."

Jack's blood ran cold and his eyes went wide. Even the sedatives couldn't stop him from starting to hyperventilate. His mother and sister...gone? Killed?  
That certainly explained why his screams for help had gone unanswered...  
The tears started falling anew and he shook his head furiously, gasping for air now between his sobs.

Mrs. Bennett was at his side immediately, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and holding him close. "Oh, Jack..." she whispered, rubbing his uninjured arm gently in hopes of calming him down a little. "I'm so sorry..."

"A-are... Are you sure?" Jamie's voice was desperate as he stumbled to his feet. "Are you positive that's what happened?!" he practically yelled, not noticing how Jack started crying harder at the sound of his raising voice, or how he twisted and hid in Mrs. Bennett's shoulder.  
He was just couldn't believe it. Jack's family was gone? How could so much bad happen to one person, just so suddenly?

Jamie was far too angry to see the unshed tears in Aster's eyes as he spoke up again. "I'm so sorry," he said quietly. "But yes... I'm sure. This is... This is what he does... Every time."  
The Burgess Police Department had long since determined that The Nightmare King's killings were completely random. Aster personally thought, after his own experience, that he did it on purpose; not only to throw off the police, but to strike more fear into the hearts of Burgess citizens because _anyone_ could be the next victim. It was like the guy got off on terrifying people moreso than he did the actual killing.  
He swallowed, and shook his head. "Mr. Overland, I'm so sorry this happened to you-"

He didn't get to finish. Jamie had been staring forward blankly, having sunk into his chair out of shock, but he suddenly shot to his feet again in another fit of rage. "Then what the hell are you still doing here?!" Jamie all but shouted, stepping forward towards Aster. "Go catch him! Don't you have enough evidence? Or are you just being a fucking lazy fat ass-"

Jack flinched in Mrs. Bennett's arms at his shouting and whimpered, and she just held him a little tighter.  
"Jamie Gorden Bennett!" Mrs. Bennett snapped. "Sit down at once! This is no time for that! Now apologize!"  
That didn't do much good for Jack, though. He tried to rip out of her arms then, and opted to curl up on the bed instead. She winced a little...she hadn't meant to scare him, too. So she leaned over and started rubbing his back in soothing little circles.

"I understand the anger, Mrs. Bennett," Aster said simply, shaking his head and lifting his hands dismissively, though he had a hurt and...haunted look on his face after being yelled at - another thing Jamie didn't seem to notice, as he sat down and crossed his arms, not saying anything else. "We're doing everything we can, I assure you. He's been doing this for years, but he can't keep going forever."

Mrs. Bennett nodded weakly. "Thank you," she said softly, before glancing down at Jack with a little sigh. "Is there anything else you need? For now, I think we all need...a moment..." A moment, a year, a lifetime she was afraid...how was a person supposed to recover from something as horrific as this?

Aster seemed to hesitate just a moment before nodding, stepping forward and crouching down to kneel beside the bed and try (unsuccessfully) to meet Jack's eyes. "Mr. Overland - Jackson - don't worry... I'm going to make sure we find this guy and bring him to justice." One hand came down gently on Jack's shoulder, while the other fished out a small card with his phone number on it. "I know how you're feeling right now...so if you ever want to talk, just give me a call, alright?"  
Jack didn't look up when Aster handed him the card, but he did take it and tuck it against his chest, still crying quietly.  
The officer stood and, with one last look at the crying boy, left the group alone.

Jamie just sat there, watching the officer leave. A part of him was glad he was gone, but another part felt really bad for yelling at him. After all, Aster hadn't done anything wrong, but...Jamie was just so angry! He wished, more than anything, that he could have done something to save Jack and his family...or that he could find the bastard who hurt him and give him the beating of a lifetime. Right now, he just felt so...helpless.

"I think you should apologize."

Jamie started when his mother's voice interrupted his thoughts and he looked up, raising a brow. "To the officer? But he just left..."

Mrs. Bennett frowned and shook her head. "No. To Jack. You scared him, honey." She nodded slightly to Jack, who was basically hiding his face behind his hands like he hoped the whole world would disappear.

Jamie flinched. He couldn't blame Jack for looking so distraught after his outburst... His cheeks flushed in embarrassment and he quickly hung his head, ashamed. "S-sorry, Jack..."

Jack sniffed. The drugs were rushing through his system now after his heart rate had spiked from all the yelling in the room, preventing another panic attack...but he felt really hazy now. However, he did make out Jamie's apology and reached out with the hand that wasn't hooked up to the drip, grabbing weakly at Jamie's wrist and trying to urge him to lay down with him.  
This was just all far too much for him to handle...and he needed to be held, just for a little while.

Jamie blinked, staring wide-eyed at Jack for a moment before looking at his mother. "I have some forms to fill out," she said softly, nodding to her son before standing and excusing herself from the room. Of course that didn't make any sense, Jack was legally in charge of himself and there should be no forms for Mrs. Bennett to fill out without Jack's permission (which he couldn't give), but neither of the boys seemed to realize that.

Jamie just climbed up into the bed with Jack, being careful not to jostle him too much as he settled down behind him and wrapped his arms loosely around him. "I'm here, Jack..." he whispered gently. "I'm here for you..."

It took a moment, before Jack whimpered and twisted around in the bed, turning to face Jamie and tucking his head against his chest.  
What was he going to do? Where would he go? What was going to happen to him now? His mind raced with questions - anything, anything was better than remembering what happened tonight, or thinking about burial arrangements for his mother and baby sister.  
"M'scared..." he finally mumbled, voice slurred and quiet from the drugs, against Jamie's chest.

Jamie could only hold his friend closer, pressing him into his chest. "It's going to be okay, Jack... I-I... I promise... Okay?" he whispered. "Just leave everything to me... I've got you. You're safe with me... I promise..."  
He repeated these assurances over and over again, his fingers curling into Jack's hospital gown as he clung to him, until Jack finally slipped into another sleep.  
He was never going to let something like this happen to Jack again. Never.


	6. Chapter 6

**So I tried to update the story, but it wasn't showing up for me.**

**I don't know if it was showing up for anyone else, but I think the problem was I deleted page 6 which was an author's note and replaced it with chapter 6, so I'm doing this again...**


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm back!**

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Only a few minutes after Jack drifted off, Mrs. Bennett came back into the room accompanied by a nurse. When they saw that Jack had fallen asleep again, though, the nurse sighed and shook her head. "I was going to talk to the both of you together," she explained softly when Jamie gave her a questioning look. "Your mother and I spoke a little, Mr. Bennett, and we think you should take a few therapy sessions. Same with Mr. Overland, obviously, but we'll have to discuss that with him when he wakes up."

Jamie frowned a bit at this new information. Why would he need therapy? Jack should need it much more! "M-me? But... I didn't go through all that..."

At the same time, Jack whimpered quietly. His hands twitched and his whole body just shook lightly when, it seemed like, he was hit with a particularly bad part of his nightmare. The nurse came over then, to put a comforting hand on both shoulders. "No, you didn't... But you _have_ been through quite a lot in one night."

In one lifetime. Jamie had, after all, found his best friend sitting in his bedroom covered in blood. He'd gotten covered in it himself in the process of comforting him... And _then_ he had to listen to the details of Jack's experience. While Jamie hadn't suffered the worst of it all by himself, he still had to hear about it happening to someone he loved... It had to have been hard on him, and both the nurse and his mother understood that.

"Your mother agrees with me, that it's a good idea. We just want to make sure this experience with Jack doesn't hurt you as much as it could."

Mrs. Bennett nodded and stepped closer, making Jamie fall silent and stop resisting the conversation. "It's just a few sessions, Jamie. It should help you deal with all this...it'd really help you a lot." She smiled softly, sadly, and placed a hand on his knee.

Finally Jamie sighed and laid back down. He wrapped his arms around Jack and closed his eyes, holding his friend closer. "A-alright..." he conceded. "Just a few..."

The nurse nodded and her shoulders seemed to relax as she pulled away from the boys. "Good." Then she turned back to Mrs. Bennett. "Would you two please alert us when Mr. Overland wakes up? We'll... We'll need to discuss this with him. Legally he's in charge of himself...so it'd help us a lot if you could try to convince him to say yes..." This was the hard part... This was part of why the Nightmare King did what he did. Jack was now legally in charge of himself...of his home, of his medical care... Sure he could still be claimed on someone else's taxes but could he be put into the foster system? No. He was an adult...who was out on his own too soon, unprepared and scared. "This will only be for his own good... He's still so young...he really needs direction right now." And with that, she left.

Jack stayed asleep for a long while, curled up and occasionally whimpering. Every ten minutes or so, he would get more scared in his sleep and his heart rate would increase, but with the blood rushing faster, the drugs pumped through his body just as fast and calmed him down before it would become a problem. Eventually enough of it had run through him that his heart monitor stopped beeping more quickly and Jamie was able to settle with the constant noise, falling into a light dozing state.

When Jack finally woke up a couple of hours later, it took the white-haired boy a few moments... A few moments of blissful ignorance before he remembered where he was. He glanced up, tears welling up in his eyes again at the memory of the night before...and found Jamie with him, eyes closed, in the hospital bed. Thank goodness... He looked up to see Mrs. Bennett asleep on the couch on the other side of the room as well. At least...at least right now he was surrounded by people who cared about him... Jack gently tucked his face into his friend's chest again, seeking comfort, but he tried his best not to wake him up.

Unfortunately though, Jamie was barely asleep. Any time he would get closer to truly falling asleep he would wake up again, mind racing... So when he felt Jack move and shift into his chest, his eyes slowly fluttered open as he looked down at him. "J-Jack...?" he whispered, rubbing his back soothingly. It seemed to help him when he was really distressed in his sleep... "You awake?"

Jack nodded, clinging weakly and tiredly to the clothes the hospital had given Jamie to wear with one hand. The other arm was still stretched out beside him, perfectly straight. Jack didn't like needles...he didn't like not feeling like he could move. Part of him wished he would have told the nurse this when he'd first been brought in...but then again, the last remaining logical part of his mind left knew that if he took it out, he wouldn't get the sleeping drugs helping him rest through this whole ordeal.

That...that didn't matter as much right now... Why was Jamie awake? He looked up, blinking blearily at his best friend. "Mmn...you...you need...sleep, J-Jamie..." he mumbled, his brow furrowing in concern. His voice was so thick from the medicine...

Jamie gave Jack a weary smile and shook his head. "No, I'm alright..." Except he had bags under his eyes. "Go back to sleep, Jack... You need it more." Jamie...needed to be strong for Jack. He needed to be a rock for his best friend. Right? Jack needed him to be strong.

Jack wasn't buying it, though. Even with his glasses off he could see the dark bruise-like circles under Jamie's eyes...and so before Jamie could really react, he hit the call button to summon a nurse to his room.

"J-Jack? Jack what are you doing?" he whispered, frowning at him. "I'm fine!" He didn't need help. _Jack_ needed help! But the nurse came in anyway, and Jamie only gave her a stubborn glance.

"Mr. Overland? Is everything alright?" she asked, looking briefly at the upset looking Jamie but really only focusing on Jack.

"Can...can you give something to my f-friend? He... He's not...sleeping well... And I'm...worried about him..." Poor Jack only sounded half-coherent... But because he was so out of it, and Jamie looked so tired and stubborn, the nurse figured if it would help Jack feel better and try to rest... She might as well.

"Ah...well...since you're...since you're a minor I'll have to ask your mother first..." she said, shaking her head. "You do look like you need sleep, poor dear..." So despite Jamie's insistent "I'm fine"s, she made her way over to the couch and crouched next to where Mrs. Bennett slept. "Excuse me, Mrs. Bennett? I'm sorry to wake you..."

Jamie's mother seemed to jerk away from the nurse, still half asleep for a moment before she looked around and it clicked where she was. "Wha? Oh...oh, sorry... Is everything alright?" she asked as she rubbed her eyes. Jack realized this must be hard for her too...Sophie being at a friend's house with a killer on the loose, Jack's mom - her friend - being brutally murdered...

"I'm _alright_," Jamie argued, pulling Jack out of his thoughts before he could break down again.

"You need sleep..." Jack mumbled, shaking his head slowly without lifting off of his chest. He was...he was kind of afraid Jamie was going to be mad at him now for doing this... So he kept his eyes down, not wanting to look if Jamie got angry. But Jamie obviously wasn't alright like he said! He was scared and exhausted, just like Jack, and it pained him to see his best friend so distressed because of him.

"Mrs. Bennett... I just need your consent in written form to give your son something to help him sleep..." the nurse said softly. "He's denying he needs it, but..." She stepped away, to let the woman get a good look at her exhausted son.

Jamie's mother sat up and sighed softly after just one look. "Oh Jamie...why didn't you say anything?" She sighed a bit and nodded. "Bring me the papers you need and I'll go ahead and sign them... But only if he says yes..." After all it was still up to him...but she gave him a pleading look anyway.

Jamie sighed. With three people now hoping he would just accept the help and sleep, he let out a small groan and let his head flop back on the bed again. "F-fine," he muttered, a little shakily. "G-go ahead..."

The nurse seemed satisfied enough when Jamie agreed and left, but Jack...wasn't satisfied at all. Now he was just dreading Jamie would push him away...so he hid further into his friend's chest. "Sorry..." he mumbled. For everything. For putting Jamie through this. For practically forcing him to take sleep medication...

Jamie opened his mouth to respond...but that's when the nurse came back with the forms and a little pill cup. His mother signed them quickly so the nurse could hand the medicine and a little bit of water to Jamie. "Here you are, dear," she said sweetly, trying to ease his frustration. "Just try not to fight this stuff off, alright? Or you'll end up sleepwalking instead."

Jamie sighed and took the pill, downing it with water. "Th-thanks..." he mumbled bitterly, waiting for her to leave before settling down with Jack. He glanced at his mother, who was watching them, before he sighed and gently touched Jack's hair. "Don't blame yourself, okay?" he said, already feeling...drowsy and heavy from the drug. "It's not your fault..."

Jack didn't respond. He was exhausted...still so tired even after so much half rest... He felt like he could sleep for a hundred years or more but his raging emotions were preventing him from really getting the most of it. But he did hear Jamie's reassurances...and the relief he felt at those words helped him drift off. He nuzzled into Jamie's neck before sleep took him again...

Jamie was quick to follow. He...really, really needed this sleep. He didn't even realize it when the darkness took him over, but there was a large part of him that was unconsciously glad it was so fast...glad that the heavy drug worked on his body so deeply that he couldn't even dream.

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**It's interesting to see how guardian-of-the-written-word, known from here on as Keru, wrote Jamie in this chapter. It's been so long since I've looked over this thread with her so it's almost like I'm reading a whole new story. Like... I don't remember writing this Jack. What happens next is almost as much a surprise to me as it is to you.**

**Hopefully this time it won't be over a year before I post again...**


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